Leave Out All The Rest
by The-Napoleon-Of-Crime
Summary: My take on how 'Leave Out All The Rest' should have continued. Set right after Grissom asks Lady Heather to stay with him.


Title- Leave Out All The Rest

Summary- My take on how 'Leave Out All The Rest' should have continued. Set right after Grissom asks Lady Heather to stay with him.

Rating- T

Disclaimer- I, sadly, do not own CSI. If I did, GSR would be together forever.

AN/ Spoilers if you haven't seen Season 9, Episode 5. However if you haven't, I deeply suggested you drop whatever it is you were doing and watch it, then come back to this fic.

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Gil Grissom was a man of science; of intellect. He liked balance, he liked control over his world and control over his emotions. His apartment was arranged to his own level of comfort and his lifestyle had been carefully perfected over the years. He was knowingly socially awkward, but there was no doubt that he was a brilliant man.

But Sara's video took all of Grissom's world and shook it right up, then for good measure dropped it from a top floor hotel balcony and watched it smash into tiny, unmanageable pieces.

For once, Gil Grissom was drowning and didn't know how to piece things back together.

"Heather, would you stay?"

Upon hearing his quiet request Lady Heather stepped further into the bedroom and closed the door behind her, leaving all second guesses out in the hall. Grissom needed her, that was clear. She wanted to repay him for all of the times he had been there for her, only she didn't know how to help him.

Heather quietly took a seat on the opposite side of the bed, facing away from the CSI. She ran her fingers gently over the pillow that was propped up against the headboard, comfortable in the silence that washed over the room while Grissom mastered the want to cry.

"I don't feel any sense of relief, Heather…"

Heather's eyes flickered from the pillow to her feet as she rested both of her hands in her lap, sitting upright as she tried to judge the situation from the view of a friend.

"You may not want to admit it yet, but by not going with her, you made the choice to distance yourselves. You chose that distance for a reason. You made a silent decision and she took the hint."

Grissom inhaled through his nose and let his eyes close, trying to find some indication he could throw at her to disprove that he had wanted to end the relationship. He hadn't refused to go with Sara, nor had he gone.

"What if by making no decision I really just made no decision?" He suggested.

Heather laughed softly but humourlessly and shook her head, "You know better than that, I know you do. And I also know that you're over complicating things, relationships do end sometimes."

"You don't understand."

"Then help me to." Heather pressed, turning her head over her shoulder for a second to look at him. He hadn't moved, he looked so childlike in his position and that was rare for her to witness.

"I'm tired," He explained quietly, "Of a lot of things. I need something new; a challenge to focus my mind… work doesn't seem to be appealing to me lately. Vegas seems… it seems suffocating."

"Yet you didn't take the opportunity to go with Sara," Heather reminded him, once again carefully running her fingers down the fabric of the pillow.

"After Warrick died, I thought I should be stronger, he was a strong man that had came through a lot… I should hold it together for his memory, but it hit me Heather and then Sara left. Everything has seemed to happen all at once."

Slowly, Grissom opened his eyes to let his surroundings register again but he fell silent for a few minutes. He usually found it hard to voice his emotions; he preferred to keep his feelings to himself, even when speaking to a friend.

Heather had read about Warrick's murder in the newspaper and had contemplated mentioning it when he had arrived, but had ultimately decided against it. There was nothing she could say to bring any comfort to his friend's death.

"Honestly? I think it's better this way." Gil repeated Sara's words to himself, returning his mind to her video and to her face as she tried to assure him that she was doing good. He knew better than to believe she wasn't just putting on a brave face.

"That's what she said to me... I think it's better this way."

"By not making the decision, you made the decision. She couldn't have waited around forever and you knew that, if you keep analyzing everything then you're going to destroy yourself. Would Sara want that?"

When Gil didn't answer, Heather decided to continue, hoping to convince him that the break up hadn't came from nowhere. Obviously something hadn't been right for a long while.

"If the relationship was worth saving, then you both would have worked to save it. Sara tried to compromise but you couldn't see that, sometimes a person will need you to put them first and if you can't do that…"

Grissom made a move to turn over onto his back while she spoke but instead chose to stay still, to remain facing the opposite wall to avoid having to meet Heather's eye.

"You still aren't my therapist, Heather…" He sighed.

Carefully, Heather slipped off her heels and lay down on her back on the empty side of the bed. She rested her hands on her stomach and stared up at the ceiling, falling silent for a few minutes to think.

"You can stay here for as long as you need, because I think you need a friend. A friend that doesn't come from the lab." She stated finally.

"Sometimes a person just can't get over a break up on their own, that isn't a sign of weakness either. I know that you loved her…"

Aware that she was now laid beside him, Grissom closed his eyes tightly. He had loved Sara more than he had ever cared to admit and it hurt him to know that all of that love had gone to waste. He'd poured his life into his job and now he was left not wanting it anymore. Everything seemed to have just crashed and burned.

"I have never been in a position where I don't know how to continue, Heather. I've never felt like I've been beaten down before. I keep watching her video hoping that the end might turn out differently, or that she might walk into my office and give me no choice but to hold her again, even though I know that it's over now."

Heather let him speak, but as he continued he sounded more broken that he had in the whole time that he had spent with her recently. He'd held everything together to get through the case, but without seeing his face Heather knew that Gil Grissom was a broken man. He needed time to pull himself back together.

"Let me help you." Heather whispered to him, "Stay."

Too tired to talk any longer that evening, Gil fell silent and yet again had to compose himself to keep from crying. Crying was supposed to be a good thing; it was meant to help people let things out, but he didn't want to lose himself in further self pity.

For a long time, they both lay side by side just listening to the sound of each other's breathing. Heather's eyes were closed but Grissom's were open and unblinking, he continued to hear Sara's words from the video float around his mind. It was like a record that just kept playing no matter how many times he tried to turn it off.

Eventually, Lady Heather decided the best thing that she could do for now was let Grissom sleep. The sex therapist carefully stood up from the bed and picked up her heels, quietly making her way across to the door. As soon as she had opened it, Heather froze.

"Stay." He echoed her words quietly and Heather allowed her eyes to close as she heard him. If he really wanted her to stay; then she was more than happy to oblige. Heather left her heels by the door after closing it once more and climbed back onto the bed, returning to her earlier position with her gaze focused on the ceiling.

For a minute or so she lay like that, then made a decision as his friend toward what she felt was in his best interests. Heather slowly turned over onto her side and shifted, she let her body gently press against his back and rested her face beside his head. She felt his body stiffen at the sudden contact, but after a while she felt him relax.

When she felt he was settled, Heather lifted her head from the pillow and leaned in a little closer to him so that he could feel her gentle inhale and exhale against his cheek.

Grissom turned his head to face her and allowed his eyes to meet hers and their gazes remained locked. His eyes only left hers when he noticed her face had suddenly gotten closer, but rather than shying away he let his eyes roam her face. There had always been a certain spark between them, as odd as it seemed, Grissom had always been drawn to Lady Heather, it was a true meeting of the minds.

"You can always say stop." She whispered to him, letting her eyes find his once again as she reached out with one hand to gently cup his cheek. She gently stroked her fingers against his beard before running her thumb over his lower lip.

"You aren't my therapist, or my dominant." Grissom whispered back to her, words she took as a sign that her method of comfort was something he was going to allow.

Heather wasted no more time, she leaned in and kissed him. The kiss was soft and didn't last very long, but was long enough for him to begin to respond. As they broke apart, Heather felt as though another kiss would be just as innocent, but the therapist knew her place just as well as Gil did.

Instead, Heather rested her face in his neck and placed her hand on his shoulder, closing her eyes. She wasn't deluded enough to think the kiss had erased all his love and thoughts for Sara, but she hoped that it would be a start.

After a while, Grissom also closed his eyes. He felt relaxed, but for a long time he laid awake letting Sara's voice mingle with Heather's inside his mind. He was heavily effected by Sara's video and at the moment he saw little relief from his heart ache, but with Heather pressing closely to him Gil felt as though perhaps, like he had done so many times for her, she would take it upon herself to do her best to help him piece things back together before he lost his way completely.

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AN/

My first CSI fic and it turns out to be centered around Heather/Grissom, I've shocked myself. Usually I'm totally pro GSR, but after watching the episode again I simply couldn't help myself, I felt it left far too much to the fan's imagination! Anyhow, thanks for reading and any feedback would be appreciated!

- Napo.


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